Custom Imperial
Represented Chrysler Luxury in 1939

from Old Cars Weekly, September
2001

This
article originally appeared in Old Cars Weekly under John Lee's column
"Collecting Chryslers."

In the early years of the
automobile it was assured that if a person could afford a luxury car, they
could also afford to hire someone to drive it. Thus many early luxury
cars were designed to separate the passenger compartment from the chauffeur's
compartment.

Chrysler's luxurious offering
were no different, though their already minor role in the luxury field was not
improving, since its peak in the early 1930's. With the introduction of
the Imperial line in 1926, Chrysler had hoped to gain an increasing share of
the market.

The Custom Imperial, Series C-24,
was Chrysler's luxury offering for 1939. It was built on a 144-inch
wheel base and powered by a straight-eight developing 141 hp. By
comparison 6-cylinder Chrysler Royals had a 119-inch wheel base with a
136-inch chassis for the seven passenger sedan and limousine. The
Imperial, New Yorker, and Saratoga models were built on a 125-inch wheelbase
with straight-eight engines.

The Custom Imperial was offered
in three configurations. A five-passenger sedan, a seven-passenger
sedan, and a seven-passenger limousine with the chauffeur's compartment
isolated by a crank-down divider window. Jim Martin of Sunnyvale,
California owns the exampled pictured. The only seven-passenger
limousine that he knows of. There are five other C-24 Custom Imperial
Martin has accounted for, and three are five-passenger sedans and two are
convertible town-cars. Production of 117 limousines, 88 five-passenger
sedans, and 95 seven-passenger sedans, as well as three Durham-bodied open
cars and seven other chassis units, are noted in the Standard Catalogue of
Chrysler, 1924-1990. Two open-bodied Custom Imperials parade cars
were reportedly built to carry the King and Queen of England during their 1939
visits to the U.S..

Martin said he had learned that
81 limousines including his, were upholstered with leather in the front
compartment while the remaining 36 used the same rear seat fabric for the
front seat and panels. Martin reupholstered the passenger's compartment
in original-style gray fabric and replaced the original front floor mat with
carpet.

In restoring the mechanical
components, Martin discovered deterioration of the original silver dome
cylinder head and replaced it with a cast-iron head. The original
aluminum head boosted the compression ratio from 6.8:1 to 7.45:1.

Chrysler introduced its unique
Fluid Drive on the 1939 Custom Imperial, which also had a 3-speed synchronized
transmission and standard overdrive.

"The overdrive is a
necessity on the open road, as it tops out around 60 miles per hour in third
gear," the owner noted. "I have unintentionally reached a
speed of 90 in overdrive!"

Martin has had little success in
trying to trace his Custom Imperial's history prior to his 1980 purchase of
the car from another California owner.

"It was purchased in
Ellensburg, Washington, by the previous owner," he said. "It
may have been first been sold in the Seattle area, as the original radio
station pushbutton designations seem to indicate previously, the car had been
owned by a GI in Fort Ord, California and I believe it was in the Virginia
Beach area at one time."

Needless to say, Martin does not employ a chauffeur
-
nor does he want to.

"The limo rides like the
Queen Mary!" he enthused. In taking coastal and mountain roads with
ease, he has, "Its great for upper body strength. There's no need
to work out in the gym!" He has logged 20,000 miles behind the
wheel since starting to restore the Custom Imperial in 1989. A
1,300-mile round trip from the California State Imperial Meet in 1992 is the
longest jaunt so far.